United States President Donald Trump has issued a warning to Nigeria, threatening potential military intervention if what he claims to be attacks on Christians in the country are not stopped.
In a statement posted on his Truth Social platform on Saturday, Trump accused Nigerian authorities of allowing what he described as an “existential threat” to Christianity in Africa’s most populous nation. He urged US lawmakers to open investigations into what he called “mass slaughter” and said he had asked American defence officials to draw up possible plans of action.
“If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the United States may stop aid and could go in ‘guns-a-blazing’ to wipe out the terrorists,” Trump wrote, while insisting any offensive would be “fast and vicious.”
The Nigerian government has rejected Trump’s allegations.
Speaking earlier, President Bola Tinubu dismissed the claims of religious persecution, insisting that Nigeria protects the freedom and rights of all citizens regardless of their faith.
“Religious freedom and tolerance have been central to our identity as a nation,” Tinubu said, adding that Nigeria does not support or condone religious violence.
Nigeria continues to struggle with multiple internal conflicts, including attacks by armed groups, communal clashes, banditry, and extremist violence but analysts say victims include both Muslims and Christians.
Claims of targeted religious extermination remain widely debated and politically sensitive in the country, which is almost evenly split between a Muslim-majority north and a largely Christian south.